There’s a quote from Twyla Tharp, a dance choreographer about creative blocks.

Do something. Anything.

The point is to get something done, even if it doesn’t specifically solve the problem you have right then. That gives you a sense of accomplishment, a feeling of progress, and you can channel that into doing more actions and eventually you’ll get to fixing your creative block.

Some people wait for the stars to align before doing anything. Some people wait for all the traffic lights to turn green before doing anything.

Sure your financial situation isn’t ideal. Sure your mother-in-law keeps breathing down you neck. Sure your work hours aren’t quite what you want. Sure you might like to have more space in your home.

But if you wait for everything to be perfect, you’ll never get to making that baby. Do you want to make babies or not?

There’s a Chinese saying that goes something like “The sparrow may be small, but it has all 5 major organs.” I don’t know what those internal organs are, probably heart, lungs, brain, kidney, liver?

The point is that the sparrow is complete, small as it is. It functions. It can fly, it can eat, and it can continue to make small baby sparrows.

In the business context, people almost always want to know more before starting. But the only real way to find out if you need to know something, is to start and then find out that you need it. Until you’ve done a task yourself and find it distasteful, you don’t really need to outsource it. Until you’ve answered customer questions, you don’t know how your customer service officers should behave.

Nobody told me to help people with maths questions, but I did it anyway (for free).

Nobody told me to help people for free when I offer a programming guide for purchase, but I did it anyway.

Nobody told me to write a thank you email to customers when they buy from me, but I did it anyway.

Nobody told me to write blog posts here, but I did it anyway (because I enjoy writing here).

You don’t need anyone to tell you to do anything. Losing weight. Gaining muscle. Be a better speaker. Be a better programmer. Learn to dance. Learn a new language. Travel the world. Travel the world on a budget. Start a new business. Have children. Teach children. Teach someone a skill.

You don’t need the year to end, and a new year to begin, to start. If you don’t need permission from someone to start, you certainly don’t need permission from the Earth rotating about the Sun to start.